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两千 (liǎng qiān) — two thousand

Definition

numeral
two thousand

Examples

  • 两千。
    Zhè tái diàn nǎo yào liǎng qiān kuài qián.
    This computer costs two thousand yuan.
  • 两千。
    Xué xiào yǒu liǎng qiān míng xué shēng.
    The school has two thousand students.
  • 两千。
    Cóng zhè r dào běi jīng yǒu liǎng qiān gōng lǐ.
    From here to Beijing is two thousand kilometers.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

两liǎngtwo
千qiānthousand

两 gives two and 千 gives thousand, so the number is two thousand.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 兩; 两 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 兩 is described as combining 一 and 㒳. The simplified 两 is a later abbreviation.

Open 两 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →
Appears in
Numbers & Counting

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